Coffee Fest NYC - Wrap Up!

Thursday March 14, 2013 // By Kari Guddeck

Amidst weather reports of snow, wind, rain, and cold we landed in NYC ready to be warmed by another Coffee Fest New York City show.  Thursday night’s weather didn’t disappoint.  A blustery wind blew wet snow around us as we walked around Times Square, but it actually lent a surprisingly cozy and beautiful ambiance to the city.  Our cold walk was rewarded with dinner at Victor’s Café and its authentic Cuban fare (be sure to order the Ceviche de Pargo - Florida red snapper marinated with lime, onions, and garlic over mango and avocado). 

Friday morning we’re up and at ‘em early as we do final prep work at our booth (assembling gift bags, setting out flyers, starting our slide show, etc).  We gave out BPS gift bags (complete with BPS shot glass and yo-yo) to the first 50 people to visit our booth each day, and they were popular!  Over the weekend, we also raffled off: an awesome brew at home kit, 4 x $50 Visa Gift Cards, a Kindle Fire, and 3 x 6 month Craft Coffee Subscriptions.  We loved making the ‘You’ve won!’ call to everyone.  We were happy to have a booth near some of our friends/partners (Umpqua Oats and Toddy), and lucky enough to be near the hopping Coffee Bark booth (think coffee, toffee and chocolate).  We were also right around the corner from The America’s Best Coffeehouse Competition (congrats to Peregrine Espresso in Washington D.C. for winning!). 

Friday wrapped up with meat-on-a-stick from a street vendor, seeing Wicked (soooo funny!), and a late night visit to Carnegie Deli for a hot pastrami and a plate full of pickles. 

 

Saturday morning was hopping!  Our gift bags were flying off the rack, raffle entries were flying into our antique coffee raffle can, and all of us were busy chatting with attendees.  Things quieted down after the first few hours, so we were all able to take a break and walk the show.  Oatmeal and grab and go food items remain popular products.  We tried some new products from Da Vinci (lemonade concentrate), Torani (new liquid frappe mix), Monin (pina colada smoothie mix), Dr. Smoothie (fruit/veggie smoothies), and a top secret new flavor from Umpqua Oats.  We also got to see the new Umpqua packaging and branding….slick!  The talk of the weekend was the gelato panini press sandwich (gelato and Nutella inside a sweet hamburger type bun pressed/cooked together).  Jay tried one and thought the bun was underwhelming (and odd with ice cream)….but, hot/sealed/gelato…interesting.

 

Italian food, wine, engaging conversations (with old friends and new)……and a game of bocce in the middle of the restaurant on a 100 year old clay court.  Yup, that about wraps up Saturday night.  

 

Tia trekked out early Sunday morning to attend the Signature Beverage: Power Up Your Profits workshop, so look out for fresh and exciting ideas from her about making the most of your menu.  The floor was a bit quieter (as is typical of these shows on Sundays), but we still had some great conversations and enjoyed raffling off the remaining gifts.

After breaking down for the night, we enjoyed awesome steak frites and Belgian beer at Petite Abeille and went speakeasy toasting at Raines Law Room (check out the wall paper….ooh la la!).  Here’s to another successful and fun Coffee Fest….see you next time!  Cheers!